The Etna Lions football team received quite a surprise Tuesday morning when they were told they could move on in the playoffs.

Etna thought it's season was over after losing to the Chester Volcanoes 35-20 on the road in the first round of the Northern Section Division 4 playoffs last Friday night.

Early Tuesday morning, Etna High School athletic director Shelly Johnson said that she received word that Chester had to forfeit its victory due to the squad having an ineligible player take part in the playoff win, which is a violation of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) rules.

This meant Etna, the No. 5 seed, was the winner by forfeit and had the choice of moving on to the semifinals to face the top seed, the Maxwell Panthers, in a road contest Friday night, or deciding not to play and forfeiting the Maxwell game.

Johnson called head coach Wade Dickinson around 7:45 a.m. to tell him the news.

"It totally hit me off guard," he said.

Dickinson and his coaching staff quickly set up a meeting with the players to see what they thought.

"We wanted the kids to be part of the decision making process," he said. It took the squad "around two seconds" to decide to continue to play, Dickinson said.

"They are really excited right now," he said.

With many players already preparing for basketball and wrestling, the squad scrambled to get their football gear back for Tuesday afternoon practice.

The team was excited but quite shocked when told they would be given a chance to play again this season, senior Hayden Kaae said. After all, he said, something like this "never happens. You don't normally get second chances, especially in the playoffs."

Kaae said that he and his teammates were disappointed with how they played last Friday against Chester and said they are "ready to redeem ourselves. We're stocked. We know we can play a lot better. I'm really excited for this second opportunity."

Dickinson said on Tuesday afternoon that since they heard the news he and coaching staff have quickly been trying to get back into football mode . He and the coaching staff had alreadybegun to look at game film of the Panthers and planed to go over film with the team during Tuesday's practice.

Dickinson said that while certainly a short window of time to prepare for such a big a game, it's worth it to give the kids another opportunity to play some football and have the chance to earn an upset and play for a section title.

And, he added, he was sure the Maxwell coaches were scrambling as well getting game film on the Lions after preparing to face another team.

Dickinson said that his initial impressions of Maxwell is that they are a talented team with good size that can move the ball down the field quite well.

Page 2 of 2 - While Dickinson would had liked to have won the Chester game outright instead of winning by forfeit, he and the team understand what a rare opportunity has been given to them.

The contest is tentatively set to begin at 6 p.m. Friday night in Maxwell, which is a more than a three hour one-way drive from Etna.

Etna is now 9-2 for the year. This mark includes the Chester forfeit win. Maxwell comes in at 9-2 and have been perfect since losing its first two games of the season. The Panthers opened the playoffs with a convincing 54-20 win over No. 8 seed Quincy last Friday.

It has been quite a memorable season for the Lions after winning thee games last year and making the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Dickinson said he and the entire team are just grateful to have another chance to play another game, regardless of what happens Friday night.

"We're going to go out, have fun, be relaxed and see what happens" he said. I know that the kids will give it their all."

The winner of the Etna vs. Maxwell game will head to the D4 title game o face the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Biggs and No. 3 seed Fall River, which is a member along with Etna of the Shasta Cascade League. Fall River won the SCL title this year and downed Etna in their only meeting.